


The road not travelled

by Martesh



Category: Naruto
Genre: Implied Sexual Content, Implied/Referenced Dubious Consent, Manipulation, More tags to be added, Multi, Revenge
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-07-07
Updated: 2019-09-22
Packaged: 2020-06-24 00:04:16
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,023
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19712257
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Martesh/pseuds/Martesh
Summary: A collection of one shots and ideas that I don’t know what to do with.Also you all need to know about Kuroteishi, who’s the most amazing beta in the world and puts up with my sporadic updates and endless grammar mistakes! They are amazing and deserve all your love because this would be nowhere near as good without them.





	1. Love me

Tobirama is holding onto the hand tightly, stumbling a half-step behind and struggling to catch up. The hand is warm and dry. 

Tobirama loves the person this hand belongs to, it’s carved into his bones, he  _ loves him so much.  _ He is also walking far too fast, his wild dark hair sticking up in every direction in agitation. 

Tobirama plants his feet and yanks at his beloved's hand, bringing him to a halt. 

~~_ (Red eyes, black tomoe and straight lines) _ ~~

“What’s the hurry?” He asks, frowning, and when his love doesn’t answer he reaches out a hand and tucks a strand of hair behind his ear. He loves this man  _ so much _ , and Tobirama can see he’s not happy and Tobirama would do anything for him.

_~~ (You love me) ~~ _

Tobirama smiles and steps closer, his hand tracing down his loves face and curling around a firm waist, hidden beneath red armour. He pushes forward and presses a soft kiss on the edge of his jaw. 

Presses his smile onto warm skin and traces a path full of kisses to a downturned mouth, pressing their lips together, playfully licking at the seam.

Tobirama pulls back and looks up into Madara's eyes. They are dark and look at him with something guarded below the surface. Tobirama raises an eyebrow and quirks his lips into another smile, splaying his fingers and then twining their hands together.

“Tell me, where's the fire? Why the rush?” He asks again. 

Madara swallows, wetting his lips and strokes the skin where Tobirama had trailed his kisses. A big triumphant smile blooms on his lips and Tobirama can’t resist, he reaches up to press another kiss to his mouth. 

This time Madara isn’t imitating a statue and opens his lips to meet Tobirama halfway, slow hesitant movements quickly turning hot and heavy, hand coming up to brace the back of Tobirama's head, gripping strands of his hair and tilting him for a better angle.

Oh, Tobirama loves this man so much, his very blood is tingling in his veins from the wonderful feeling of their lips just touching. He never wants to stop. 

Eventually Madara pulls away. His hair is a mess from where Tobirama had gotten a good grip halfway through their kiss and his cheeks are flushed, lips wet and swollen. Tobirama has never seen anyone look so handsome before and he doesn’t understand why they’d never done this before.

~~_ (Red eyes with a black design) _ ~~

He  _ loves  _ Madara.

Madara smiles and runs a hand through his hair and looks at Tobirama, his smile widening and showing even more teeth. Slowly he straightens and reaches out for Tobirama's hand again, which he surrenders willingly. Anything for Madara.

“It’s nothing, we’re just leaving that’s all.” Madara says and starts to pull Tobirama along underneath the canopy. It’s getting darker and the night is quickly approaching, the summer evening warm and humid.

“We’re leaving?” Tobirama asks, confused. They live in Konohagakure. In separate houses but Tobirama wouldn’t mind moving in with Madara.

“Yes, I’m not really welcome anymore.” He says adding in a lower voice. “...not come morning anyway.” 

Tobirama sighs and lengthens his stride to match Madara’s. “Of course we don’t have to leave, brother….” 

“Your brother is going to be the problem” Madara interrupts him, yanking Tobirama forward for a faster pace. He frowns at Madara’s back. What does he mean Hashirama is going to be a problem? Was it something to do with paperwork? Or was he trying to do something subtle?

”Is it paperwork?” 

Madara stumbles and swivels around, confusion plain on his face. “Paperwork.” Tobirama repeats. ”Does it have to do with paperwork? I know Anija is useless at that part, but he is the Hokage and that comes with paperwork, he’ll get over it.

The image of Hashirama drowning in the paper on his own desk comes to mind and he grimaces.

“Well, eventually anyways.” Tobirama mumbles, chagrined over the fact that he had to make that concession. Hashirama could be so embarrassing. 

Madara bursts into laughter, startling Tobirama out of his musings. Tobirama heaved a put upon sigh but couldn’t help but smile in reaction. It was so rare to actually see Madara laugh. He so rarely did in the village and Tobirama suspected he had almost stopped since he killed Izuna.

He suddenly had a lump in his throat and he tried to swallow past it but it only grew in size and weight, choking him.

He gasped around it and reached out a hand, trying in vain to rub it away. 

_ He killed Madara’s brother!  _ How had he not felt like this before?! He knew it had hurt Madara but he had kept his distance, trying to give as little reminders as possible for the sake of peace and the village. 

He couldn’t not say anything. It was unbearable.

Madaras laughter had died off when he had noticed Tobirama's increasing distress. He stiffened and slowly grasped Tobirama's chin, lifting it to meet his eyes. 

His Sharingan was active. A bolt of sudden fear tore through Tobirama only to be suppressed by an even stronger feeling of  _ love.  _

Tobirama gasped again and staggered forward, clutching at Madara’s armour for balance. He felt lightheaded and his knees threatened to buckle.

“I’m sorry” he choked out. “I’m so very sorry, you have to believe me! I didn't mean to kill Izuna! I promise. That was not a wound that should have killed him! I-“ Madara’s fist caught him across his mouth, knocking him back. He landed in a sprawl on his back and stared up Madara. The love of his life was wearing an ugly, wounded expression.

“Don’t say his name.” Madara said slowly. His voice low and dark. He would have looked dangerous but Tobirama loves him. It doesn’t matter. It never will.

He got up on his feet again and walked the few steps forward. He knew Madara valued honesty and Tobirama would deliver. He steeled his spine. This would not be welcomed but Tobirama loves Madara and that means he wants what’s best for him. No matter what Madara thought.

“No. I love you with all my heart and this is something that is tearing you apart. I honestly, truly did not intend to kill Izuna. Incapacitate for a good amount, yes, to give Hashirama a window for peace and so your clan could see that the only path we walked was the one that ended in death.” 

Tobirama bent his knees to seem smaller, less of a threat to Madara and he could feel how his face shifted and tilted up. Trying to reflect the anguish that twisted like cut glass inside. It cut him up from the inside that Madara was hurting. Tobirama  _ loves  _ Madara. He wants him happy and healthy above all. 

Madara’s grip on his chin turns to stone, squeezing bruises onto his skin. 

“Stop talking” 

“ I can’t, you’re hurting and I can’t stand it, it’s tearing me up inside.” 

Madara is hollow. He bares his teeth into a mocking imitation of a smile. ” _ Good” _

“No! Not good! I want you to be happy!” Tobirama cries. “You are in pain, please, let me help you.” He begs. His hands reaches up to caress Madara's face. Tobirama can feel how he’s tearing up, tears catching in his eyelashes, not yet falling.

Madara's eyes flick down to his lips and up to his eyes and down again, not saying anything. 

Relief blooms inside Tobirama and he smiles. Madara still desires him. Tobirama’s caresses shifted to cup Madaras neck and moved closer, but Madara put a hand on his chest and pushed him firmly away. 

His grip on Tobirama’s jaw softened but he tilted his chin up, catching his eyes again. 

His Sharingan swirled and shifted from the three tomoe design to a new form, connecting it together with three staggering lines.

~~_ (YOU LOVE ME) _ ~~

“You love me.“

The words were lightning through his veins. “Yes, I love you” Tobirama answers, grasping at Madara, eyes locked onto his beautiful red eyes.

“You  _ love  _ me.” Like chains wrapping around his body, sinking into his muscles.

“I  _ love  _ you.”

A calm spread over Madara's face, easing the deep lines in his skin.

“You love  _ me. _ ” The words carved into Tobirama’s bones, reverberating through his entire being. Chakra coiling around Tobirama and sinking deep.

“ _ I love you.”  _ Tobirama gasps finally, pushing forward and pressing devotion and love to Madaras throat and jaw, working his way up to his lips. 

“I love you, I love you, I love you.” He breathes between kisses, hands clutching at Madara’s collar, hauling himself up. 

“...And you want to help me?” 

Tobirama halts momentarily, looking up. Madara’s expression is thoughtful. “Yes” he says.” I want you to be happy.”

He bites gently at Madara’s ear. “Please.” A kiss on his cheek, closer to his lips.”Please.” Another kiss, “please” and another. 

“Let...”Kiss. 

“Me...” Kiss.

“Help... you...” Tobirama reaches Madara’s lips and halts, waiting for an answer. He won’t pursue this unless Madara also wants too. Healing won’t happen through force, it needs to come from the desire to become better.

Madara stays silent for a long time.” You won’t betray me.” he states.

“Never.”

“Then… help me.” He sighs and pulls Tobirama into a kiss. Licking inside his mouth and biting at Tobirama's lips. Tobirama has never been kissed like this before, he felt hot and too small in his own skin, whining and clutching at Madara. 

Eventually they pull apart. Madara steps back and takes hold of Tobirama’s wrist. 

“We’re leaving.” 

~~_ (Madara’s face, twisted in rage, leaned closer, pushing Tobirama's paperwork to the floor.  _ ~~

~~_ “You love me” _ ~~

~~_ And Tobirama was trapped. Sharingan eyes burning into his head and twisting his mind. He could only slump forward into Madara.” _ ~~

~~_ “I love you”.) _ ~~

They walk away, leaving Konoha behind. Tobirama doesn’t spare a thought for his family that will find him missing come morning. 

He can only think of Madara. He loves him.

  
  
  
  
  
  
  



	2. Thunder part 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A continuation of chapter one.

Tobirama has never been this happy before in his life. His heart is a never ending drum of warmth spreading through his body and his head has never been so crystal clear. 

But…something’s wrong.

It’s not natural, this feeling of bliss in his bones and the bubbly, happy feeling that is digging its claws into him. It’s like spider silk wrapped around his every limb and it’s making him dance like a marionette starstruck by love. He can’t even tell if the strings are making him dance or if he’s the one pulling his own strings. 

Tobirama knows he can be a pessimistic son of a bitch but he can recognise when he’s being manipulated. This is manipulation, it must be. 

He hopes it is, otherwise looking back at his life before Madara pulled him from behind his desk into that first kiss...is like staring into an abyss of despair and loneliness. If it wasn’t all real Tobirama didn’t think he could ever crawl out of the hole he fell down. He would rather die.

Tobirama can think back and he knows what he’s feeling but he can’t remember how he came to feel like this. This intoxicating feeling of walking on clouds and the happiness he feels from just looking at Madara’s face. 

He never wants to stop feeling like this, even with the horrible suspicion that it might all be false. 

He can’t remember falling in love with Madara, he can’t remember how it happened. He just knows that two months ago, Madara stepped into Tobirama’s office in the village tower and he went insane.

He left his brother behind, he left his  _ clan  _ behind in the village! He would never do that! He has a duty and he loves them, he truly does, it’s just… 

Tobirama looks up at the man he’s leaning against and he  _ loves him more. _ Madara is gazing into the fire that Tobirama started and his face is all unhappy lines and a downturned mouth. It's not a beautiful face, not in comparison to all the beauty in the world but to Tobirama it’s the dearest of them all. With the tiny scars dotted around the curve of a jaw and the lines etched too early into his forehead and in the corners of his eyes. 

Right now it’s not wearing the happiest of expressions, displeasure is carving lines into his skin and a dark cloud of unhappiness is dripping down on them. Metaphorically, that is. 

He wants to reach out and make Madara smile instead. Tobirama had noticed pretty soon that Madara is depressed. How he forces himself up every morning and how he is uninterested in everything but his plan to create “true peace and happiness.'' It’s a fool's hope, but Tobirama thinks Madara needs that right now. The possibility of simply stopping is too terrifying to consider and with the mental state Madara is in now he needs something to keep him going.

Application of exercise and sleep are the most effective tools to aid in recovering from depression. It gives the human body strength to crawl its way back to happiness and so Tobirama has happily run a frankly insane amount since they left Konoha behind them. 

He has also kissed and hugged and crawled into Madara’s lap several times to get him really exhausted so the bastard will  _ finally _ fall asleep. He has sat up and watched out for nightmares and hugged him awake just enough so that he doesn’t have to dream of the things that cause him to twist and turn in the night. Tobirama has picked flowers, cooked meals, cuddled and brushed the horrifying mess of tangled  _ thing,  _ that Madara dares to call hair, into order. He’s found literal twigs in there! Tobirama can’t imagine how that happened and he certainly doesn’t want to know. 

Tobirama keeps his hair short for a reason but...Madara always smiles as he tangles his hands into Tobirama's short strands. Madara loves to fist his hands in Tobirama's hair and if it makes him happier… Tobirama could let it grow. It doesn’t matter to him that much anyway. 

Nothing matters much to him now. Madara’s presence seems to push any thought that wasn’t of him right out of Tobirama’s head. The world faded away when he was with Madara. It’s not as important as the burning, choking,  _ love _ that lives inside Tobirama now. 

Nothing is as important. 

Reaching up and pulling Madara into a soft kiss is natural. Tobirama knows that Madara likes it when they have sex, maybe even loves it when Tobirama rolls them over and encourages Madara to push him into the ground and be rough. 

He has bruises on his hips and arms from those occasions. Tobirama doesn’t try to soothe them away with chakra, he even makes sure to limp a little some mornings to help Madara get up. Madara’s chakra turns hot and molten when he notices and it twists in a way that Tobirama thinks is due to satisfaction but with a darker edge. He always ignores that last part. 

He loves Madara. Everyone has desires that they don’t tell anyone about and if Madara likes it when Tobirama is marked with his touch, then he is happy to oblige. 

Today is not one of those days. Tobirama tries to tease it out of Madara but it’s just a passive meeting of Tobirama's tentative licks of the tongue at the seam of Madara’s lips. He pulls back and stares into dark eyes. Tobirama can see the fire reflected in them, tiny flecks of orange that flicker in time with the flames. 

“What’s wrong?” Tobirama slips his hands in under Madara’s shirt. Skin contact helps with producing oxytocin, and Madara needs all the help he can get. He wants Madara to feel the love that Tobirama does.

“Nothing's wrong.” 

Tobirama huffs at the lie, anyone that is staring broodingly into a fire at night when their lover is trying his best to seduce them, has, at the very least, something wrong. And he can feel Madara’s chakra. He’s lying.

“Don’t lie, I can feel it in your chakra that you’re unhappy.”

Madara is a silent rock beside him. Maybe he’s missing his clan? The Uchiha are a very affectionate clan, Tobirama knows that. He’s probably not fulfilling all the needs that Madara has. Tobirama is trying but this is an area he’s unfamiliar with. 

“Maybe we could go back to the village, your clan is there and I think they can help you, you don’t need to do this alone.”

Madara shakes his head. “I have to do this alone, you don’t count.”

Well, that was unnecessary, Tobirama thought. Not counting Tobirama was always a mistake. He makes sure of that. And so he tries again. Madara is stubborn but so is Tobirama, and he has the patience of a saint when it comes to Madara, for some reason that he can’t remember. 

“Hashirama..”

“Look! Forget about Hashirama, forget about Konoha, they’re not important to you, only I am important.”

“Yes, I know that! However I am not talking about the significance of the village, or your so called best friend, I am talking about your health. I truly think that you will feel better if we are not all alone out in the wilderness. Human beings are social creatures, they enjoy each others company.” 

Madara leans back and sneers. “ Human beings? Are you admitting to being a freak then?” 

Tobirama stares back, he's not very impressed and he hopes Madara can read that from his face, the idiot. “I am well aware that I am not the standard, but even I feel loneliness and when I do I find my clan. Then I spend time with them,” he adds pointedly. For someone that used to scream about how much family matters Madara was certainly slow at times. 

True to form Madara huffs at him. Obstinate to the bitter end, the love of his life was. Tobirama maybe has to consider the fact that he was a masochist. It would explain a lot about his love for Madara  _ and _ his brother. Why else would he put up with them for so long? 

“I brought you with me, didn’t I?” Madara replied. Or maybe Tobirama was just a hopeless romantic. 

“I am only one person, and no matter how much I care about you I can’t be your everything.” No matter how much Tobirama may want to be. “You have your dream and I support that wholeheartedly but you need more.”

Tobirama reaches out to pat Madara on the chest but his hand is suddenly caught in a vice grip. Madara is staring at him with a grim look on his face.

“What is it now?!” Tobirama snaps, he is quite done with stupidity for the evening,

“You... _ care _ … about me,” The infuriating person beside him says. The emphasis Madara puts on the word care makes Tobirama bristle.

“Yes! I care! What is your problem now!”

“Only care?” Madara’s voice has gone soft and dark and suddenly Tobirama feels very small. Small and vulnerable. He suddenly, desperately wishes that Hashirama was here. Or Touka.

“I…” he starts and looks at Madara. Tobirama feels like there is a vice slowly tightening in his chest. Of course he loves Madara? He does. He does!

“I...love?” He tries again but he can’t get the words out.  _ He does! _

Madara’s other hand, the one not pushing bruises into his skin, grabs his chin and pulls Tobirama's face up to meet his eyes.

Tobirama can’t look away. 

Madara’s eyes darken for a moment before the Sharingan swirls to life. It’s that other design, the non standard pattern that only a very few of the Uchiha clan have. 

He looks at Tobirama and he can’t help but stare right back at him. A sliver of panic fizzles down Tobirama's spine and he feels a sudden, illogical, urge to stab Madara in the face or to turn around and run as fast and as far away as he possibly can. 

**“You love me”**

Tobirama draws in a shuddering breath and stares into the beautiful eyes of the man he loves. He reaches out and grasps ahold of Madara’s shirt and nods. 

“I love you” Tobirama repeats back. He hauls himself closer and stares right back into the now faintly glowing Sharingan, its edged pattern slowly spinning and it makes him dizzy with emotion. 

“I love you” Tobirama says it again. No words can accurately describe the howling storm that lays beneath the surface of his skin. It feels like the worst of late summer rolled in with the roaring thunder and crackling lightning that set forests ablaze. Like it was setting him ablaze too. His head is spinning and slipping away from him. 

The only stable thing in the world was Madara. His chakra is the center of the world and Tobirama wants to drown in his eyes. The Sharingan sends shivers of fear down his spine but he can’t look away. It would mean looking away from Madara and Tobirama thinks that if he looks away now, he will shatter into a thousand pieces and burn down like the charred black trees the summer storms leave behind. Fragile and cracking apart. 

Madara slowly blinks and the Sharingan fades away, a smile stretching across his face. It looks cruel. A wonderful smile and Tobirama smiles back so wide his face hurts. He loves him, _he_ _loves him._

He leans forward and presses kisses across Madara’s jaw and he presses them to his throat when he feels faint and starts to slump forward. The storm that is living in his skin is sinking desperately into his bones. It feels like the bonfire of chakra that is Madara. Tobirama wants Madara to love him back. 

He knows he doesn’t. He can feel it and he can see it, no matter what Tobitama does to make Madara happy. Izuna dying broke something in Madara and he is just hobbling forward with what’s left. The feeling cuts like knives and if Tobirama could just fix him everything in the world would be perfect.

His heart is pounding in his chest but it is secondary to the all consuming love that is cresting inside him. He loves Madara  _ so very much.  _ He wants him to be happy and nearby. Tobirama wants to see him laugh for real, not the bitter chuckle that sometimes escape him. 

Tobirama is exhausted and his breath is shallow and rapid. He feels like he has run across the entirety of the Land of Fire and fought a battle, he’s shaking like a leaf. 

He keeps murmuring how much he loves Madara even as his fingers turn numb and he ends up sprawled across the other man due to exhaustion. His head is churning with ideas. He wants to heal Madara, but that is a task only Madara himself can fulfill. 

How, how, how?

Tobirama tries to nuzzle closer and press more adoring kisses to Madara’s skin but he is shivering too hard. 

What can Tobirama actually  _ do _ ?

Madara eventually pushes him off and Tobirama slumps down to the ground on his back. The stars are bright but they are uninteresting and pale compared to the man that Tobirama loves so much that it hurts. 

What can  _ Tobirama  _ do?

He tries to catch his breath and forces himself to look at Madara. He’s lying on their bedroll and Madara has a smile on his lips as he starts to drift away.

He can provide comfort, he can provide companionship, he can protect Madara from threats. He will give Madara the best possible opportunity to make him want to live again. 

Tobirama loves him so much he wants to cry.

But he doesn’t, instead he spends the night shivering and gasping for breath. Watching the center of his world, and plotting. 

What can he do, what can he do?

Protect Madara and love him even if he doesn’t love Tobirama back. 

Only the stars can see if he cries and they won’t tell anyone his weakness.

**Author's Note:**

> Please review!
> 
> Prompts are welcome


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